Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 26.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,841 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.20.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of CME opened at $269.65 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $272.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $97.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total value of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,824. This trade represents a 35.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.